Sankofa

Adinkra symbol of a bird looking back: go back and fetch what you forgot.

Sankofa is one of the best-known Adinkra symbols of the Akan of Ghana. The word comes from Twi and means roughly: go back and get it. It belongs to the proverb se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenkyi: it is not wrong to go back and fetch what you have forgotten.

The symbol is depicted in two ways. The best known is a bird walking forward but turning its head backwards, with an egg in its beak. The egg stands for what is precious: knowledge, memory, the future that grows out of the past. The other form is a stylised heart with curls, often seen on fences and jewellery.

The meaning is rich. Sankofa says that you should not forget or deny the past, but learn from it and take along what is valuable in order to move on. In Ghana it is about family, history and the wisdom of elders. In the African diaspora, from the United States to Suriname and the Netherlands, Sankofa became a symbol of recovering roots cut off by slavery. It appears on monuments, art and clothing, and is often mentioned around Keti Koti.

In dream interpretation Sankofa is a key for dreams that look back. A dream about a house from the past, a deceased grandparent, a school or a place from your childhood is often read this way in an Akan reading: what must you retrieve before you can move on? Sometimes that is a memory, sometimes a relationship, sometimes a part of yourself you left behind.

Sankofa is not a call to stay in the past. The bird walks forward. It is about taking along, not about being stuck.